Travel – Page 4 – Ward Kadel

#Navarra5 Day 1: D.O.ing Navarra, Inurrieta & Ochoa

October 9, 2011October 9, 2011Vinopanion: Ward Kadel - @drXeNo3 Comments

The #Navarra5 team hit the ground running (not yet drinking) at the start of our first full day in the great Kingdom of Navarra (Twitter, Facebook) with our trusty guide and F1 driver Michael "Miguel" Mantilla (ARGOS Wine Consulting/Kraynick & Associates, Inc.). Technically I ran the day before, through parts of the glorious and small city of Pamplona, capital of Navarra/Navarre and the setting of many a famous scene in the writings of their adopted son, Ernest Hemingway. I ran past some of his favorite haunts during that afternoon jog, past the tolling bells of the Church of San Lorenzo, and through the ruins of the Citadel. One of my favorite ways to get to know a new city, neighborhood or surrounding land is to take a run through it's fresh splendor.

Back across the pond: Navarra, here I COME

September 15, 2011September 15, 2011Vinopanion: Ward Kadel - @drXeNoOne Comment

It is with no small excitement that I am able to announce a new trip to vino heaven, once again this year. Navarra, Spain is both an autonomous region (Navarre) as well as an ancient wine region, whose wine roots date back up to 1,200 years. It was once a great and proud kingdom and sits between what is now the Spanish wine appellation of Rioja and the French wine appellation of Bordeaux. Consequently, it has grows an awesome mix of grape varieties from both regions that have been approved by the Navarra Denominación de Origen (DO): Garnacha Tinta, Tempranillo, Graciano, Mazuelo, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Shiraz, Garnacha Blanca, Malvasia, Moscatel, Viura, Chardonnay, and Sauvignon Blanc. It also has a long history as an approved DO (the Spanish equivalent of a wine AVA or appellation that has strict, government-regulated quality control and approved grape growing and winemaking methods), celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2008. And it is to Navarra that I have the great fortune to fly, this coming Saturday!

Jet Bag Defeats AA at WBC11

August 3, 2011August 3, 2011Vinopanion: Ward Kadel - @drXeNo4 Comments

I do a lot of traveling for wine. Just the last 6 months has seen me pop up in New York twice and Charlottesville once. Strangely enough, this means that I tend to accumulate a fair amount of wine during my travels (I know, cue the weeping and lamentations). This does tend to present a Conundrum, however. When one needs to fly these days, it tends to be very difficult to hide 750 mL of glass-encased liquid. OK, but that's fine, right? I'll just check my baggage with the bottle of red stashed inside...surrounded by all of my favorite clothes because I just went to NYC for the first time. Hmm...not a recipe for success, especially as I watched the suplex being applied to my suitcase out on the tarmac. Cue: the Jet Bag.

WBC11 Hits Virginia with Le Wine Buffs in Tow

July 21, 2011July 21, 2011Vinopanion: Ward Kadel - @drXeNo3 Comments

2011 North American Wine Bloggers' Conference

At this point, my regular readers should know quite well about my participation in the cra cra known as the North American Wine Bloggers' Conferences (Twitter, WineLog). We're coming up on the 4th in this great series, after the huge success in 2008, 2009 and 2010. This year we're invading Charlottesville, Virginia for our very first time plundering the wine life on the right coast (and East Coast wine bloggers rejoice). The state of Virginia has been exceptionally supportive and I'm looking forward to learning a ton about 5th largest wine producing state in the Union. Between the Keynote from Jancis Robinson (Twitter), the Virginia Wine (Twitter) Reception at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello for dinner on Friday, another Keynote from Eric Asimov (Twitter) and the annual Vineyard walks in the local wine country, #WBC11 looks to be just as stunning a time as years' past.

Pops & Son Wine Trip 6: The Mountains of Murphys

March 21, 2011March 21, 2011Vinopanion: Ward Kadel - @drXeNoLeave a comment

Dad caught the Frickin' at Twisted Oak! - PSWT6

This was a trip so epic, that it took a year to digest and to prepare the story-telling...that's the story I'm stickin' to anyway! Pops & I have taken many a wine trip together over the years, this was the sixth, in fact. Each one has been in a different appellation or sub-appellation around NorCal. Following my pre-WBC09 Twisted Murphys visit with some other vinopanions in crime, I decided that Pops and I needed to definitely take over Murphys and its Calaveras County wine country for our upcoming trip later that year. I spoke a lot in that earlier Murphys post about the exciting, up and coming aspects of the Calaveras County wine region and how it has already reached at least the wine crafting quality of it's larger and surrounding appellation of the Sierra Foothills and is coming into its own as a true wine destination. Murphys, the historic Gold Rush and logging town, has completely reinvented itself as a more boutique, yet still nicely rustic wine and food mecca, tucked underneath the stunning Sierras and Calaveras Bigtree National Forest. Pops and I decided that we needed to dig a bit deeper this time and really get to know this comfortable piece of wilder wine country.